'Contributor' plans to double publication, increase service to vendors

Tuesday, November 29, 2011 at 5:23pm

Staff reports

The Contributor will start publishing twice a month starting in February 2012 as it attempts to increase its support for the vendors that sell it.

The move is part of the newspaper’s “Next Step” initiative announced in an email sent to supporters Tuesday. The goal stated on the paper’s website is a “greater level of service and impact in our community.”

That next step includes plans to hire a “vendor outreach worker” to help connect vendors to social service programs as well as providing financial and legal assistance to support the vendors’ business.

“By publishing twice a month … The Contributor will be at the forefront of critical journalistic excellence covering issues related to poverty and homelessness — all from perspectives that simply cannot be found in other publications,” the email stated.

Founded in 2007, The Contributor is the “street newspaper” with the highest circulation in North America, printing a minimum of 100,000 copies every month.

Homeless citizens sell the newspaper for a profit, and according to The Contributor website, 35 percent of vendors secured housing using money earned from sales.

The “Next Step” program also aims to double their donor support in 2012. For more information, visit thecontributor.org.

7 Comments on this post:

Organized panhandling. These bums are annoying, and it is not "journalism." It is socialist advocacy funded by socialists and communists.

Do not buy this paper.

By:Jughead on 11/30/11 at 9:01

And another issue: the Downtown Presbyterian Church is the home office of this socialist rag and feeds the bums several times per week. It is no surprise that violent crimes committed by the bums the DPC cuddles happen within blocks of the "church."

The DPC is responsible for most of the violent and sexual crimes their clients commit. Thanks, DPC, for being such a good neighbor.

By:nash615 on 11/30/11 at 9:46

Jughead: Good to know that charity is now evil, and that no matter how little society cares for you you can still be part of that vast socialist conspiracy.

By:tardistraveler on 11/30/11 at 10:42

I think this is a great way for these folks to do something productive to earn some money, and many of the vendors have gotten off the streets by selling these papers. Have you ever bought or read of of these? There's some quality journalism there that gives a lot of insight to the homeless. I'd rather see them selling papers to earn money than simply panhandling.

Don't be so quick to judge these folks. Many of us are just a paycheck away from the streets ourselves.

By:Jughead on 11/30/11 at 11:04

Libtards--FYI, I give to legitimate charities--children's hospitals, pet rescue, and other educational entities. People who have not drugged and drank themselves to "homelessness" and now harass me on the street, hiding behind the 1st Amendment.

Do you know how many people have been assaulted/killed in the immediate vicinity of DPC? These "homeless" creeps are dangerous criminals first, and usually pathetic and unreliable alcoholics and drug addicts second.

And I have a responsibility to give my paycheck to them? Absolutely friggin NO. I'll pay taxes to put them in jail and make downtown a better place for people who actually work for a living, not beg.

By:Jughead on 11/30/11 at 11:07

These bums watch porn all day at the Nashville Public Library, and run off mothers who want to take their kids to the children's theater.

Then, the bums go to DPC for a free meal. The DPC is the problem, they know it, and they want to harass working people.

By:Jughead on 11/30/11 at 11:09

This is not journalism, it is socialist propaganda.

And, they get smurfs to panhandle it while framing them as "people just trying to get ahead."

This is a political movement and nothing more. DO NOT BUY THE CONTRIBUTOR.